Dirty Bird learns to fly (5.3 LS Swap) (1 Viewer)

[blbuck12]

Welp, I have wanted to LS swap my 60 since I first got it about 4 years ago. Since then I have turned it into a great daily driver. Gone through about everything on it and the only way to move it forward it to make some big changes. There is 1 big thing changing and 1 big thing being fixed. Motor and tranny are changing to a LS 5.3 and 4l60E from an 04 Avalanche. The big thing being fixed is my frame. The frame has two holes rotted on the inner side of the box frame and the rear channels are shot.

Over the holidays I watched the Ant Anstead Master Mechanic series and got really inspired to tackle all this and started buying parts and getting the planning done. A few weeks later I sourced the Avalanche and pulled the engine and transmission from it. Since then I replaced most of the gaskets on the LS, some sensors and cleaned it up pretty well. I also went through the wiring harness using LT1SWAP.com information and sent my PCM off to them for re-programing.

As of today, 3/5, the body has been removed from the frame! Next steps are pulling the motor, transmission and split case. Then cutting out some rust from the frame and pressure washing the crap out of it. This will be followed likely by more cutting and a handful of wire wheels and sanding to get things nice and clean. From there I will weld in new plate to the frame and paint it with chassis saver.

A ton of work to be done but I am pumped on getting rolling on this. Goal is to have it running and driving in April but not necessarily 100% done.


Day1

 

[blbuck12]

Reserved for parts list

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Good luck!

-Ed

 

[Cruzerman]

That's a pretty aggressive goal. Good luck with your project.

 

[blbuck12]

Thanks. Yeah I need to keep it aggressive to have it ready for summer and a few other big events coming. Plus it makes it easy to default my free time to working on it.

Yesterday we lifted the motor and tranny off the frame then used a diesel burner pressure washer to clean it. It removed most of the paint and undercoating from the frame and definitely helped clean out the boxed sections. Next step is to bring out the cutting discs and torch to remove some rust and the rear C channels. Red spots are where there is rust, the only real difficult one to work on will be the passenger side under the cross member. Will likely need to cut the cross member out to properly get to it

For the rear channel I picked up some 3.5" square tubing and have cut it in half length wise. Should be about the right size.

 

[Seth S]

What is your plan for sealing the frame. Epoxy prime and top coat?

 

[blbuck12]

@Seth S Pretty much, planning on using Chassis Saver paint. I will top coat it around the bumpers and wheel wells, where it gets more sunlight. Thought about powder or zinc coating, but not looking for that kind of investment on a frame in this condition. If I found a near perfect frame locally that was available I may have gone that way.

 

[blbuck12]

The 2F is off to it's new home with @ntdb

After digging further into the frame I discovered that it's too far gone. Used a hammer to break away the rust scale and ended up denting the outside of the frame and you can now see light through it... Major bummer as I've been looking for a frame locally for months without much luck.

Well while I searched for a new frame I got around to rebuilding the transfer case and attaching it to the 4l60e transmission. Today, while under quarantine, I finished up the rebuild and got the transfer case shift linkage together. It might need a little tweaking but it's really close. Only item is the gap in the 2wd-4wd shift, may take out the lock washer or trim down the spacers from the adapter.

 

[blbuck12]

After discovering the frame was too far gone I searched all the usual sites for a frame then ended up posting some wanted ads in a few local 4x4 facebook groups. A friendly local guy named Dave responded with a parts rig that he wanted gone so it was a deal made in heaven. This is it before and after all the black berries were cut back.

It was Dave's parts rig for a few years so it's missing a decent number of items including the tranny, split case, axles, some doors... Was just looking for the frame, but get lots of bonus bits with this. Plan is to throw my axles and suspension under it, then pull the body off and remove as much as possible. Unfortunately not much of the body is good as there's a handful of dents and lots of rust popping through. Frame is solid and just needs a little cleaning and paint!
A few more pics for good measure. Will probably part it out this summer as I don't have a permanent spot to keep it. Luckily the trailer we used has hydraulic tilt and an electric winch. Made getting it on the trailer not horrible.

 

[cruisermatt]

Nice score on the parts rig, that frame definitely isn't too far gone though

 

[blbuck12]

Nice score on the parts rig, that frame definitely isn't too far gone though

I realize it could have been fixed, but it was more about the amount of work necessary to bring it up to good condition when I knew there are solid frames out there. With how disassembled things are and all the new parts getting tossed in, its really hard not to want to throw in a rust free frame vs a patched frame.

 

[OG SUV]

Looking forward to watching your build thread. Keep the updates coming

 

[NookShneer]

Updates? You get that motor in yet?

 

[blbuck12]

@NookShneer haha, practically. The lock down in Seattle have made it a bit more difficult to get time in on the Dirty Bird, but progress is still being made. Was able to separate the donor vehicle from it's old suspension, body and motor. Frame is solid but still needs the rear channel cut out and boxed sections cleaned out good. Will hopefully be able to get that done this week and get my suspension and axles under the frame.

Was helping a Jeep buddy diagnose his no start issue on the phone while burning and hammering out the old rotted suspension bushings. Propane torch for the win!

Frame hanging, still need to remove the front bumper and charcoal canister...

 

[blbuck12]

Had a day off work due to a cancelled trip and spent the day making more progress. What's more fun than removing the rear C-channels? Doing it a second time!

Had some help from my dad on the propane cutting torch to remove the stock motor mounts and help fit the late steering box on the early frame.

Did some test painting with Chassis Saver on a skid plate and the spring hangers. Forgot to take a picture, but it looks black and shiny. Same finish as POR-15 and paints very similar. After letting that cure for 24 hours and cleaning up a few items we rolled the axles under the new frame and got them bolted up

Next up is finishing up the rear channels with the replacement steel. I picked up a 20" piece of 3.5" square tube and cut it in half lengthwise with a grinder and a cutoff wheel. Clamped it into the rear channel and marked the holes with spray paint. Drilled the holes on a drill press. Ordered grade 8 hardware from McMaster Carr to bolt it together and just need to paint before putting everything back together.

 

[NookShneer]

Great work. How far off was the early steering box to late? I’m in the boat where I would like to amend that on my 60 at some point.

 

[blbuck12]

@NookShneer 2 of the 4 will align no issue. The bottom two, one is about half the hole and the other is about 3/4 align. I've heard drilling it is relatively straight forward, but we already had the cutting torch out so we did that

 

[MarkBC]

Does the donor have a decent tailgate to part out?

 

[blbuck12]

Does the donor have a decent tailgate to part out?

Unfortunately no, the body and tailgate are rusted in all the usual places

 

[blbuck12]

Well it's been very busy the last few weeks but I've managed to make some good progress on the frame. Using a forklift and a jack I got the motor/tranny/transfer positioned so that we can re-use the stock drive shafts. Will still need to clearance the tranny pan but that shouldn't bee too big of a deal since everything is still apart. Started by getting the transfer back in the stock position and building a support to hold it in place. It's pretty ugly, but should be plenty strong after we had a buddy add some additional bracing after this photo was taken. Welded brackets onto the frame that are simply some angle iron, a piece on the inside and outside of the frame should be plenty strong.

After bolting in the brace we moved the engine around a bit more to get it shifted to the drivers side and as high as possible. Once we understood where the engine mounts when be hitting the frame, I welded on some plates to help spread the load.

I need to get better about taking pictures since I jump from that to the mounts fully welded in. You can see how offset they are to the drivers side. Mounts are poly and are laser cut by a company that sells on Ebay. They are pretty beefy and cleared the LS2 exhaust manifolds I have with plenty of space. Positioning the engine as I did it's going to be a REALLY tight fit for the fan clutch and the radiator. Anyone know of a shallower fan clutch that would fit a LM7? We'll find out this weekend if it's going to be an issue, but measuring back from the from body mounts there is likely going to be 1/4" of interference between them. I picked up a set of Derale electric fans built into an aluminum shroud that seem to be pretty popular here on MUD in case I need to go that direction.

This last weekend marked the last major item to be completed before starting the re-assembly of everything. I cleaned the frame with a few different wire brushed and wiped it down before painting it with Chassis Saver. It's similar to POR-15, so it's pretty nasty stuff to breath or get on your skin, aka it does not come off. After thinning it out 5% or so I put on 2 coats with a brush. If I ever do this again I will definitely use a sprayer as the first coat took 2 hours to get in all the nooks and crannies. Also, spraying would have made for a better finish. I don't really care about a perfect finish since it's a frame that shouldn't be seen unless I'm under it or I've rolled it haha.

I'm super pumped at this point to start putting things back together, there shouldn't be too much else to fabricate or fix, mostly just making connections from this point on (famous last words...)


Up next
Drop the motor/tranny/transfer onto the frame
Isolate the necessary wiring in the cruiser engine bay
remove/clean up any un-necessary items in cruiser engine bay
Clearance the transmission pan
Mount the body to the frame
Finish up wiring harness/fuse block
Hookup fuel system, tranny cooler lines, power steering lines, cooling system, shifter...


Oh, and here are the new rear C-channels I made from 3.5" square tube that need to get bolted in as well.